Racing to Save Lives\

Hi There and thank you for taking the time to visit my fundraising page.

Recently my sister, actually my twin sister, completed the Orange County Half Marathon. Being the competitive person that I am, when I received a flyer in the mail from Team in Training I thought well if she can do it, so can I. Of course the fact that I had done very little running over my adult life did not seem to factor in to my hasty decision to sign up. But after learning more about The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society I have no regrets for taking on this challenge.

The challenge became a bit more personal when I learned shortly after signing up to train that someone I work with had recently been diagnosed with Lymphoma. He is currently undergoing treatment at City of Hope. I asked him if I could dedicate my race in honor of him, he graciously accepted.

I ask you on behalf of The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, but especially on behalf of Frank Soto that you help me meet my fundraising goal.

Did You Know:

Lymphoma is a type of blood cancer that occurs when lymphocytes--white blood cells that help protect the body from infection and disease--undergoes a malignant change and begins to multiply, eventually crowding out healthy cells and creating tumors which enlarge the lymph nodes or other sites in the body.

Lymphoma may develop in many parts of the body, including the lymph nodes, spleen, bone marrow, blood, or other organs.

About 53 percent of the blood cancers that occur each year are lymphomas. There are 574,525 people living today with lymphoma; 143,814 either have or are in remission from Hodgkin lymphoma; 430,711 either have or are in remission from non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

This year, 74,340 new cases of lymphoma will be diagnosed in the United States (8,220 cases of Hodgkin, 66,120 cases of non-Hodgkin).

This year, 20,510 people will die from lymphoma (1,350 from Hodgkin, 19,160 from non-Hodgkin).

Non-Hodgkin lymphomais the sixth most common cancer in the United States, and its age-adjusted incidence rose by nearly 79 percent from 1975 to 2005.

And once again, to end on a bright note: Lymphoma is often called the "Rosetta Stone" of cancer research because it has helped unlock the mysteries of several other types of cancer.

These are pictures of Frank before, during and after his first chemo treatment.

Frank recently finished his second round of chemo and is still the upbeat and positive person he has always been. Here are some more recent pictures:

Here he is sleeping after one of his last treatments in round 2:

This is after finishing his second round:

And here he is back in the hospital getting a blood infusion because of low counts: